Apparatuses and methods for mitigating sticking of units-under-test

ABSTRACT

Disclosed herein are apparatuses and methods for mitigating sticking of units-under-test (UUTs). For example, in some embodiments, a probe card may include a probe landing pad, a guide plate having a hole therein, and a pushing mechanism. The pushing mechanism may include a pusher needle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle support may be between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusher needle support may be controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend and retract through the hole in the guide plate.

BACKGROUND

Electronic components, such as integrated circuit (IC) devices, may betested before they are assembled into larger devices. During testing,conductive probes may be brought into conductive contact with theelectronic components, and the performance of the electronic componentsmay be tested via these conductive probes.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Embodiments will be readily understood by the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings. To facilitatethis description, like reference numerals designate like structuralelements. Embodiments are illustrated by way of example, not by way oflimitation, in the figures of the accompanying drawings.

FIGS. 1A-1B are side, cross-sectional views of different stages ofoperation of a probe card, including a guide plate apparatus with apushing mechanism, during testing of a unit-under-test (UUT), inaccordance with various embodiments.

FIGS. 2A-2G are various views of a portion of a guide plate apparatusthat may be included in the probe card of FIG. 1, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIGS. 3A-3B are side, cross-sectional views of different stages ofoperation of the guide plate apparatus of FIG. 2, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIGS. 4A-4B are top views of example arrangements of pushing mechanismsin the guide plate apparatuses of FIGS. 1 and 2, in accordance withvarious embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method of operating a probe card includinga pushing mechanism, in accordance with various embodiments.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a wafer and dies that may be probed inaccordance with any of the apparatuses or methods disclosed herein.

FIG. 7 is a side, cross-sectional view of an integrated circuit (IC)device that may be included in an electronic component probed inaccordance with any of the apparatuses or methods disclosed herein.

FIG. 8 is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC package that may includeone or more electronic components probed in accordance with any of theapparatuses or methods disclosed herein.

FIG. 9 is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device assembly that mayinclude one or more electronic components probed in accordance with anyof the apparatuses or methods disclosed herein.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example electrical device that mayinclude one or more electronic components probed in accordance with anyof the apparatuses or methods disclosed herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Disclosed herein are apparatuses and methods for mitigating sticking ofunits-under-test (UUTs). For example, in some embodiments, a probe cardmay include a probe landing pad, a guide plate having a hole therein,and a pushing mechanism. The pushing mechanism may include a pusherneedle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle support may bebetween the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusher needlesupport may be controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend andretract through the hole in the guide plate.

In the following detailed description, reference is made to theaccompanying drawings that form a part hereof wherein like numeralsdesignate like parts throughout, and in which is shown, by way ofillustration, embodiments that may be practiced. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized, and structural or logicalchanges may be made, without departing from the scope of the presentdisclosure. Therefore, the following detailed description is not to betaken in a limiting sense.

Various operations may be described as multiple discrete actions oroperations in turn, in a manner that is most helpful in understandingthe claimed subject matter. However, the order of description should notbe construed as to imply that these operations are necessarily orderdependent. In particular, these operations may not be performed in theorder of presentation. Operations described may be performed in adifferent order from the described embodiment. Various additionaloperations may be performed, and/or described operations may be omittedin additional embodiments.

For the purposes of the present disclosure, the phrase “A and/or B”means (A), (B), or (A and B). For the purposes of the presentdisclosure, the phrase “A, B, and/or C” means (A), (B), (C), (A and B),(A and C), (B and C), or (A, B, and C). The drawings are not necessarilyto scale. Although many of the drawings illustrate rectilinearstructures with flat walls and right-angle corners, this is simply forease of illustration, and actual devices made using these techniqueswill exhibit rounded corners, surface roughness, and other features.

The description uses the phrases “in an embodiment” or “in embodiments,”which may each refer to one or more of the same or differentembodiments. Furthermore, the terms “comprising,” “including,” “having,”and the like, as used with respect to embodiments of the presentdisclosure, are synonymous. As used herein, a “package” and an“integrated circuit (IC) package” are synonymous. When used to describea range of dimensions, the phrase “between X and Y” represents a rangethat includes X and Y. For convenience, the phrase “FIG. 1” may be usedto refer to the collection of drawings of FIGS. 1A-1B, the phrase “FIG.2” may be used to refer to the collection of drawings of FIGS. 2A-2G,etc.

FIGS. 1A-1B are side, cross-sectional views of different stages ofoperation of a probe card 150, including a guide plate apparatus 170with a pushing mechanism 100, during testing of a UUT 106, in accordancewith various embodiments. The UUT 106 may be any suitable electroniccomponent. For example, in some embodiments, the UUT 106 may be a singledie (e.g., any of the dies 1502 discussed below with reference to FIG.6), or an array of multiple dies. In some embodiments, the UUT 106 maybe a wafer (e.g., any of the wafers 1500 discussed below with referenceto FIG. 6). The UUT 106 may be held down against a thermal chuck 108 byvacuum force. The thermal chuck 108 may provide mechanical support tothe UUT 106 during testing and may also serve to dissipate heatgenerated by the UUT 106 during testing. The top surface of the UUT 106may include one or more conductive contacts 107 through which electricaltesting may occur. In some embodiments, the conductive contacts 107 mayinclude solder (e.g., solder microbumps).

The probe card 150 may include a guide plate apparatus 170 coupled to aprobe landing pad 110. The probe landing pad 110 may include conductivecontacts 120 at one face, and these conductive contacts 120 may be inelectrical communication with multiple electrical pathways 122 throughthe probe landing pad 110. In some embodiments, the conductive contacts120 may include conductive bumps having a metallic coating (e.g., acoating of nickel and/or gold). Solder interconnects 124 mayelectrically couple the electrical pathways 122 to a circuit board 126at the opposite face of the probe landing pad 110. The pitch of theseelectrical pathways 122 at the face at which they make electricalcontact with the conductive contacts 120 may be finer than the pitch ofthe electrical pathways 122 at the opposite face of the probe landingpad 110 (proximate to the circuit board 126); the probe landing pad 110may thus act as a space transformer.

The guide plate apparatus 170 may include one or more guide plates112/114 having holes 116 through which probe bodies 118 extend. Twoguide plates, a lower guide plate 112 and an upper guide plate 114, areillustrated in FIG. 1, but a probe card 150 may include more or fewerguide plates. For example, in some embodiments, a guide plate apparatus170 may include a lower guide plate 112 (on which a pushing mechanism100 is disposed, as discussed further below) but no upper guide plate114. The probe bodies 118 may be in electrical contact with theconductive contacts 120 of the probe landing pad 110, and duringtesting, the probe bodies 118 may be in electrical contact with theconductive contacts 107 of the UUT 106. More generally, during testing,the circuit board 126 may control and/or monitor electrical signals sentto and/or from the UUT 106 through the electrical pathways 122, theconductive contacts 120, and the probe bodies 118. The guide plates112/114 may be held in position by a guide plate support 128 thatextends around the periphery of the guide plate apparatus 170. In someembodiments, the guide plate support 128 may include one or more screwsthat extend through the guide plates 112/114 and secure the guide plates112/114 to the probe landing pad 110. The probe bodies 118 may have anysuitable dimensions. For example, in some embodiments, the probe bodies118 may have a length between 3 millimeters and 7 millimeters (e.g.,between 4 millimeters and 7 millimeters) in some embodiments, the probebodies 118 may have a diameter between 30 microns and 70 microns (e.g.,between 40 microns and 60 microns).

Although the lower guide plate 112 and the upper guide plate 114 arereferred to herein in the singular, the lower guide plate 112 and/or theupper guide plate 114 may each include multiple guide plates. Forexample, the guide plate apparatus 170 illustrated in FIG. 2 has a lowerguide plate 112 that includes two different guide plates, as well as anupper guide plate 114 that includes two different guide plates. AlthoughFIG. 1 illustrates the holes 116 in the upper guide plate 114 as alignedwith the holes 116 in the lower guide plate 112, this need not be thecase; the holes 116 in the guide plates of a guide plate apparatus 170may be aligned in any desired manner with respect to each other to allowthe probe bodies 118 to pass through.

A pushing mechanism 100 may be disposed between the lower guide plate112 and the probe landing pad 110. In the embodiment of FIG. 1 (and FIG.2, discussed below), the pushing mechanism 100 is disposed between thelower guide plate 112 and the upper guide plate 114. The pushingmechanism 100 may include a pusher needle 102 and a pusher needlesupport 104. The pusher needle support 104 may be coupled to the pusherneedle 102, and may be controllable to cause the pusher needle 102 toextend and retract through a corresponding hole 116 in the lower guideplate 112. Just as the probe bodies 118 are positioned with highaccuracy on the UUT 106 by the corresponding holes 116 in the guideplates 112/114, the pusher needle 102 may be positioned with highaccuracy on the UUT by the corresponding hole 116 in the lower guideplate 112. In some embodiments, the pusher needle support 104 may becontrolled by electrical signals provided to the pusher needle support104 from the circuit board 126 and through one or more electricalpathways 122 and electrical cabling 123. The pusher needle support 104may cause the pusher needle 102 to extend and retract using any desiredtechnique; FIG. 2 illustrates a particular example of a pusher needlesupport 104 in detail. The pusher needle 102 may have any suitabledimensions; for example, the pusher needle 102 may have a diameterbetween 30 microns and 70 microns (e.g., between 40 microns and 60microns). In some embodiments, a pusher needle 102 may have a squarecross-section (e.g., a square tip). In some embodiments, across-sectional area of a pusher needle 102 may be less than 2500 squaremicrons. FIG. 1 illustrates two pushing mechanisms 100 included in aprobe card 150, but a probe card 150 may include any desired number ofpushing mechanisms 100 arranged in any desired pattern (e.g., asdiscussed below with reference to FIG. 4).

The pushing mechanisms 100 disclosed herein may mitigate stickingbetween the UUT 106 and the probe card 150 by providing a mechanicalforce to help disengage the probe card 150 from the UUT 106 when atesting sequence is complete. In particular, during electrical testing,one or more of the probe bodies 118 may become inadvertently “stuck” tothe UUT 106. This may occur in any of a number of ways: a probe body 118may slip between adjacent ones of the conductive contacts 107 and become“wedged” there, or a conductive contact 107 may become deformed due tothe heat generated during testing and may become mechanically attachedto a probe body 118. Further, the vacuum force between the UUT 106 andthe thermal chuck 108 is typically not adequate to overcome thissticking, and is not readily increased due to the limited surface areaof the UUT 106. In conventional testing assemblies, the sticking mayresult not only in damage to or loss of the UUT, but also damage to orloss of the expensive probe card, as well as significant delay in themanufacturing and testing process. The probe cards 150 disclosed hereinmay mitigate these losses by “pushing” against the UUT 106 after atesting sequence in order to provide an appropriate force to counter anyundesirable sticking and gently disengage the UUT 106 from the probecard 150.

As noted above, FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate different stages of operationof a probe card 150 during testing of the UUT 106. In particular, FIG.1A illustrates a stage in which the probe bodies 118 are in electricalcontact with the conductive contacts 107 of the UUT 106. Electricaltesting may occur during this stage. In FIG. 1A, the pusher needles 102are spaced away from the surface of the UUT 106, and thus are not incontact during electrical testing. In other embodiments of the probecards 150 disclosed herein, the pusher needles 102 may be in contactwith the surface of the UUT 106 during electrical testing.

FIG. 1B illustrates a stage after completion of an electrical testingsequence. In this stage, the probe card 150 has been moved away (e.g.,vertically) from the UUT 106 to space the probe bodies 118 away from theconductive contacts 107. The pusher needles 102, however, have beenextended to make contact with and apply force to the UUT 106 to aid inseparation between the probe bodies 118 and the conductive contacts 107of the UUT 106. The amount of force applied by the pusher needles 102 onthe UUT 106 may be controlled by the pusher needle support 104 (e.g., bycontrolling the rate at which the pusher needles 102 extend, as well asother parameters). After the probe card 150 and the UUT 106 have beensuccessfully separated, the pusher needle support 104 may again retractthe pusher needles 102 by some amount.

The height 105 of the pusher needle support 104 may be constrained bythe available space in the guide plate apparatus 170. For example, insome embodiments, the height 105 may be less than 4 millimeters (e.g.,less than 3 millimeters). In some embodiments, the distance 113 betweenthe lower guide plate 112 and the upper guide plate 114 may be between 3millimeters and 4 millimeters. In some embodiments, the probe bodies 118may extend past the bottom surface of the lower guide plate 112 by adistance 115 that is less than 500 microns.

FIGS. 2A-2G are various views of a portion of a guide plate apparatus170 that may be included in the probe card 150 of FIG. 1, in accordancewith various embodiments. As noted above, the guide plate apparatus 170illustrated in FIG. 2 includes two guide plates in each of the upperguide plate 114 and the lower guide plate 112; a probe body 118 extendsthrough holes 116 in all of these guide plates.

The pusher needle support 104 of FIG. 2 is disposed between the lowerguide plate 112 and the upper guide plate 114. The pusher needle support104 includes a base plate 152 on which a motor 154 is disposed (andsecured, e.g., via an adhesive). The base plate 152 may be secured tothe lower guide plate 112 (e.g., by an adhesive) and in someembodiments, may be formed of a same or similar material as the lowerguide plate 112 to minimize the potential for cracking or othermechanical problems due to the base plate 152 and the lower guide plate112 having different coefficients of thermal expansion. In someembodiments, the base plate 152 may be formed of a ceramic material. Thebase plate 152 may have any suitable dimensions. For example, in someembodiments, the base plate 152 may have a thickness (i.e., in theZ-direction) of 200 microns, and an area that is less than 100 squaremillimeters (e.g., 6 millimeters by 15 millimeters) The motor 154 may bea linear motor that, when actuated (e.g., by an applied voltage), causesan arm 156 to move forward and backward in the Y-direction. For ease ofillustration, FIG. 2 omits the electrical cabling 123, but such cabling123 they make an electrical connection with the motor 154. In someembodiments, the motor 154 may be a piezoelectric motor. The height ofthe motor 154 (i.e., in the Z-direction) may be 4 millimeters or less(e.g., less than 3 millimeters). In some embodiments, the motor 154 maypermit a travel range for the arm 156 of up to 6 millimeters.

The pusher needle support 104 of FIG. 2 may also include a cantileversupport 164 disposed on the base plate 152 (and secured to the baseplate 152 via, e.g., an adhesive) and a cantilever 166 extending fromthe cantilever support 164, as shown. In some embodiments, thecantilever 166 may be partially embedded in the cantilever support 164,or otherwise mechanically secured to the cantilever support 164. Thepusher needle 102 may be attached to a tip of the cantilever 166. Insome embodiments, the pusher needle 102 and the cantilever 166 may beseparately fabricated and then attached, while in other embodiments, thepusher needle 102 and the cantilever 166 may be fabricated together as asingle unit. As illustrated in FIG. 2, the cantilever 166 may beoriented in the X-direction, while the arm 156 of the motor 154 may beoriented in the Y-direction (perpendicular to the orientation of thecantilever 166). The cantilever 166 may have any suitable stiffness toprovide a desired spring force (e.g., as discussed below). For example,in some embodiments, the cantilever 166 may have a stiffness greaterthan 1 gram per micron. The cantilever 166 may have any suitable length.For example, in some embodiments, the cantilever 166 may have a lengthbetween 4 millimeters and 10 millimeters (e.g., between 5 millimetersand 7 millimeters).

The pusher needle support 104 of FIG. 2 may also include a double wedgestructure, including an upper wedge 158 in a lower wedge 160, supportedby a pair of wedge frames 162 attached to the base plate 152 (e.g., byadhesive). The upper wedge 158 may include projections that extend intohorizontal slots in the wedge frames 162, and the mechanical couplingbetween the projections and the slots may constrain the upper wedge 158to translate only in the Y-direction. Similarly, the lower wedge 160 mayinclude projections that extend into vertical slots in the wedge frames162, and the mechanical coupling between the projections in the slotsmay constrain the lower wedge 160 to translate only in the Z-direction.The angled faces of the upper wedge 158 and the lower wedge 160 may bein contact, and the arm 156 may be in contact with the proximate “side”face of the upper wedge 158, as shown. Further, the cantilever 166 maybe in contact with the proximate “bottom” face of the lower wedge 160,as shown, and may provide an upward spring force to the lower wedge 160.

The exposed surface of some UUTs 106 may be covered almost entirely withconductive contacts 107, and thus there may be limited surface areaavailable on which a pusher needle 102 may land. For example, in someembodiments, the distance between the probe body 118 and an adjacentpusher needle 102 may be less than 100 microns. In some arrangements, apusher needle 102 may land on a corner of a UUT 106, and/or in a scribestreet along an edge of the UUT 106.

FIG. 3 illustrates different stages of operation of the pushingmechanism 100 of FIG. 2; in particular, FIG. 3A illustrates extension ofthe pusher needle 102, while FIG. 3B illustrates retraction of thepusher needle 102. As shown in FIG. 3A, to extend the pusher needle 102,electrical signals provided to the motor 154 (e.g., from the circuitboard 126 through the cabling 123, not shown) cause the motor 154 todrive the arm 156 in the positive Y-direction. The arm 156 makes contactwith the upper wedge 158, pushing the upper wedge 158 in the positiveY-direction, and in turn, pushing the lower wedge 160 in the negativeZ-direction. The double wedge structure may thus “translate” force andmotion in the Y-direction into force and motion in the Z-direction. Themovement of the lower wedge 160 in the negative Z-direction may push thecantilever 166 in the negative Z-direction, moving the pusher needle 102in the negative Z-direction (toward a UUT 106, not shown). Thus, asillustrated in FIG. 3A, the pusher needle support 104 may cause thepusher needle 102 to extend. FIG. 3B illustrates retraction of thepusher needle 102; to retract the pusher needle 102, electrical signalsprovided to the motor 154 may cause the motor 154 to drive the arm 156in the negative Y-direction, away from the upper wedge 158. The upwardspring force provided by the cantilever 166 may no longer be counteredby the force from the arm 156/upper wedge 158, and thus the cantilever166 may move in the positive Z-direction, lifting the pusher needle 102and pushing the lower wedge 160 in the positive Z-direction.

As noted above, a probe card 150 may include any number of pushingmechanisms 100 arranged in any desired manner. For example, FIGS. 4A and4B illustrate different arrangements of four pushing mechanisms 100 in aguide plate apparatus 170 above a rectangular UUT 106. In thearrangement of FIG. 4A, the pushing mechanisms 100 may be arranged sothat a pusher needle 102 (not shown) of an individual pushing mechanism100 is positioned to push on a corner of the UUT 106. In the arrangementof FIG. 4B, the pushing mechanisms 100 may be arranged so that a pusherneedle 102 (not shown) of an individual pushing mechanism 100 is to pushon a side edge of the UUT 106. Any other suitable number and arrangementof pushing mechanisms 100 may be included in a probe card 150.

FIG. 5 is a flow diagram of a method 1000 of operating a probe cardincluding a pushing mechanism, in accordance with various embodiments.Although the operations of the method 1000 may be illustrated withreference to particular embodiments of the probe card 150 and pushingmechanisms 100 disclosed herein, the method 1000 may be used to operateany suitable probe card including a pushing mechanism. Although variousoperations are illustrated once each and in a particular order in FIG.5, the operations may be reordered and/or repeated as desired.

At 1002, at the start of a probing sequence, electrical signals may beprovided to a motor to cause a pusher needle tip to be spaced away froma UUT. For example, a circuit board 126 may provide electrical signalsto a motor 154 in a pusher needle support 104 in a guide plate apparatus170 to cause a tip of a pusher needle 102 to be spaced away from a UUT106 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 1A and FIG. 3B). The electricalsignals may include a pre-set amount of voltage (e.g., a negativevoltage) for a pre-set amount of time, based upon a calibration of themotor 154 and the amount of travel desired.

At 1004, at the end of the probing sequence, electrical signals may beprovided to a motor to cause the pusher needle tip to make contact withthe UUT. For example, the circuit board 126 to provide electricalsignals to a motor 154 in a pusher needle support 104 and a guide plateapparatus 170 to cause a tip of the pusher needle 102 to make contactwith the UUT 106 (e.g., as illustrated in FIG. 1B and FIG. 3A), andthereby help disengage the probe card 150 from the UUT 106 at the end oftesting. The electrical signals may include a pre-set amount of voltage(e.g., a positive voltage) for a pre-set amount of time, based upon acalibration of the motor 154 and the amount of travel desired.

The apparatuses and methods disclosed herein may be used during theprobing of any suitable electronic component. FIGS. 6-10 illustratevarious examples of apparatuses that may be or may include electroniccomponents probed using any of the apparatuses and methods disclosedherein.

FIG. 6 is a top view of a wafer 1500 and dies 1502 that may be or mayinclude electronic components probed using any of the apparatuses andmethods disclosed herein. For example, in some embodiments, a wafer 1500may be the UUT 106. In other embodiments, a die 1502 may be the UUT 106.The wafer 1500 may be composed of semiconductor material and may includeone or more dies 1502 having IC structures formed on a surface of thewafer 1500. Each of the dies 1502 may be a repeating unit of asemiconductor product that includes any suitable IC. After thefabrication of the semiconductor product is complete, the wafer 1500 mayundergo a singulation process in which the dies 1502 are separated fromone another to provide discrete “chips” of the semiconductor product.The die 1502 may include one or more transistors (e.g., some of thetransistors 1640 of FIG. 7, discussed below) and/or supporting circuitryto route electrical signals to the transistors, as well as any other ICcomponents. In some embodiments, the wafer 1500 or the die 1502 mayinclude a memory device (e.g., a random access memory (RAM) device, suchas a static RAM (SRAM) device, a magnetic RAM (MRAM) device, a resistiveRAM (RRAM) device, a conductive-bridging RAM (CBRAM) device, etc.), alogic device (e.g., an AND, OR, NAND, or NOR gate), or any othersuitable circuit element. Multiple ones of these devices may be combinedon a single die 1502. For example, a memory array formed by multiplememory devices may be formed on a same die 1502 as a processing device(e.g., the processing device 1802 of FIG. 10) or other logic that isconfigured to store information in the memory devices or executeinstructions stored in the memory array.

FIG. 7 is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device 1600 that may beincluded in one or more dies 1502 (FIG. 6). The IC device 1600 may beformed on a substrate 1602 (e.g., the wafer 1500 of FIG. 6) and may beincluded in a die (e.g., the die 1502 of FIG. 6). The substrate 1602 maybe a semiconductor substrate composed of semiconductor material systemsincluding, for example, n-type or p-type materials systems (or acombination of both). The substrate 1602 may include, for example, acrystalline substrate formed using a bulk silicon or asilicon-on-insulator (SOI) substructure. In some embodiments, thesubstrate 1602 may be formed using alternative materials, which may ormay not be combined with silicon, that include but are not limited togermanium, indium antimonide, lead telluride, indium arsenide, indiumphosphide, gallium arsenide, or gallium antimonide. Further materialsclassified as group II-VI, III-V, or IV may also be used to form thesubstrate 1602. Although a few examples of materials from which thesubstrate 1602 may be formed are described here, any material that mayserve as a foundation for an IC device 1600 may be used. The substrate1602 may be part of a singulated die (e.g., the dies 1502 of FIG. 6) ora wafer (e.g., the wafer 1500 of FIG. 6).

The IC device 1600 may include one or more device layers 1604 disposedon the substrate 1602. The device layer 1604 may include features of oneor more transistors 1640 (e.g., metal oxide semiconductor field-effecttransistors (MOSFETs)) formed on the substrate 1602. The device layer1604 may include, for example, one or more source and/or drain (S/D)regions 1620, a gate 1622 to control current flow in the transistors1640 between the S/D regions 1620, and one or more S/D contacts 1624 toroute electrical signals to/from the S/D regions 1620. The transistors1640 may include additional features not depicted for the sake ofclarity, such as device isolation regions, gate contacts, and the like.The transistors 1640 are not limited to the type and configurationdepicted in FIG. 7 and may include a wide variety of other types andconfigurations such as, for example, planar transistors, non-planartransistors, or a combination of both. Planar transistors may includebipolar junction transistors (BJT), heterojunction bipolar transistors(HBT), or high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMT). Non-planartransistors may include FinFET transistors, such as double-gatetransistors or tri-gate transistors, and wrap-around or all-around gatetransistors, such as nanoribbon and nanowire transistors.

Each transistor 1640 may include a gate 1622 formed of at least twolayers, a gate dielectric and a gate electrode. The gate dielectric mayinclude one layer or a stack of layers. The one or more layers mayinclude silicon oxide, silicon dioxide, silicon carbide, and/or a high-kdielectric material. The high-k dielectric material may include elementssuch as hafnium, silicon, oxygen, titanium, tantalum, lanthanum,aluminum, zirconium, barium, strontium, yttrium, lead, scandium,niobium, and zinc. Examples of high-k materials that may be used in thegate dielectric include, but are not limited to, hafnium oxide, hafniumsilicon oxide, lanthanum oxide, lanthanum aluminum oxide, zirconiumoxide, zirconium silicon oxide, tantalum oxide, titanium oxide, bariumstrontium titanium oxide, barium titanium oxide, strontium titaniumoxide, yttrium oxide, aluminum oxide, lead scandium tantalum oxide, andlead zinc niobate. In some embodiments, an annealing process may becarried out on the gate dielectric to improve its quality when a high-kmaterial is used.

The gate electrode may be formed on the gate dielectric and may includeat least one p-type work function metal or n-type work function metal,depending on whether the transistor 1640 is to be a p-type metal oxidesemiconductor (PMOS) or an n-type metal oxide semiconductor (NMOS)transistor. In some implementations, the gate electrode may consist of astack of two or more metal layers, where one or more metal layers arework function metal layers and at least one metal layer is a fill metallayer. Further metal layers may be included for other purposes, such asa barrier layer. For a PMOS transistor, metals that may be used for thegate electrode include, but are not limited to, ruthenium, palladium,platinum, cobalt, nickel, conductive metal oxides (e.g., rutheniumoxide), and any of the metals discussed below with reference to an NMOStransistor (e.g., for work function tuning). For an NMOS transistor,metals that may be used for the gate electrode include, but are notlimited to, hafnium, zirconium, titanium, tantalum, aluminum, alloys ofthese metals, carbides of these metals (e.g., hafnium carbide, zirconiumcarbide, titanium carbide, tantalum carbide, and aluminum carbide), andany of the metals discussed above with reference to a PMOS transistor(e.g., for work function tuning).

In some embodiments, when viewed as a cross-section of the transistor1640 along the source-channel-drain direction, the gate electrode mayconsist of a U-shaped structure that includes a bottom portionsubstantially parallel to the surface of the substrate and two sidewallportions that are substantially perpendicular to the top surface of thesubstrate. In other embodiments, at least one of the metal layers thatform the gate electrode may simply be a planar layer that issubstantially parallel to the top surface of the substrate and does notinclude sidewall portions substantially perpendicular to the top surfaceof the substrate. In other embodiments, the gate electrode may consistof a combination of U-shaped structures and planar, non-U-shapedstructures. For example, the gate electrode may consist of one or moreU-shaped metal layers formed atop one or more planar, non-U-shapedlayers.

In some embodiments, a pair of sidewall spacers may be formed onopposing sides of the gate stack to bracket the gate stack. The sidewallspacers may be formed from materials such as silicon nitride, siliconoxide, silicon carbide, silicon nitride doped with carbon, and siliconoxynitride. Processes for forming sidewall spacers are well known in theart and generally include deposition and etching process steps. In someembodiments, a plurality of spacer pairs may be used; for instance, twopairs, three pairs, or four pairs of sidewall spacers may be formed onopposing sides of the gate stack.

The S/D regions 1620 may be formed within the substrate 1602 adjacent tothe gate 1622 of each transistor 1640. The S/D regions 1620 may beformed using an implantation/diffusion process or an etching/depositionprocess, for example. In the former process, dopants such as boron,aluminum, antimony, phosphorous, or arsenic may be ion-implanted intothe substrate 1602 to form the S/D regions 1620. An annealing processthat activates the dopants and causes them to diffuse farther into thesubstrate 1602 may follow the ion-implantation process. In the latterprocess, the substrate 1602 may first be etched to form recesses at thelocations of the S/D regions 1620. An epitaxial deposition process maythen be carried out to fill the recesses with material that is used tofabricate the S/D regions 1620. In some implementations, the S/D regions1620 may be fabricated using a silicon alloy such as silicon germaniumor silicon carbide. In some embodiments, the epitaxially depositedsilicon alloy may be doped in situ with dopants such as boron, arsenic,or phosphorous. In some embodiments, the S/D regions 1620 may be formedusing one or more alternate semiconductor materials such as germanium ora group III-V material or alloy. In further embodiments, one or morelayers of metal and/or metal alloys may be used to form the S/D regions1620.

Electrical signals, such as power and/or input/output (I/O) signals, maybe routed to and/or from the devices (e.g., the transistors 1640) of thedevice layer 1604 through one or more interconnect layers disposed onthe device layer 1604 (illustrated in FIG. 7 as interconnect layers1606-1610). For example, electrically conductive features of the devicelayer 1604 (e.g., the gate 1622 and the S/D contacts 1624) may beelectrically coupled with the interconnect structures 1628 of theinterconnect layers 1606-1610. The one or more interconnect layers1606-1610 may form a metallization stack (also referred to as an “ILDstack”) 1619 of the IC device 1600.

The interconnect structures 1628 may be arranged within the interconnectlayers 1606-1610 to route electrical signals according to a wide varietyof designs (in particular, the arrangement is not limited to theparticular configuration of interconnect structures 1628 depicted inFIG. 7). Although a particular number of interconnect layers 1606-1610is depicted in FIG. 7, embodiments of the present disclosure include ICdevices having more or fewer interconnect layers than depicted.

In some embodiments, the interconnect structures 1628 may include lines1628 a and/or vias 1628 b filled with an electrically conductivematerial such as a metal. The lines 1628 a may be arranged to routeelectrical signals in a direction of a plane that is substantiallyparallel with a surface of the substrate 1602 upon which the devicelayer 1604 is formed. For example, the lines 1628 a may route electricalsignals in a direction in and out of the page from the perspective ofFIG. 7. The vias 1628 b may be arranged to route electrical signals in adirection of a plane that is substantially perpendicular to the surfaceof the substrate 1602 upon which the device layer 1604 is formed. Insome embodiments, the vias 1628 b may electrically couple lines 1628 aof different interconnect layers 1606-1610 together.

The interconnect layers 1606-1610 may include a dielectric material 1626disposed between the interconnect structures 1628, as shown in FIG. 7.In some embodiments, the dielectric material 1626 disposed between theinterconnect structures 1628 in different ones of the interconnectlayers 1606-1610 may have different compositions; in other embodiments,the composition of the dielectric material 1626 between differentinterconnect layers 1606-1610 may be the same.

A first interconnect layer 1606 may be formed above the device layer1604. In some embodiments, the first interconnect layer 1606 may includelines 1628 a and/or vias 1628 b, as shown. The lines 1628 a of the firstinterconnect layer 1606 may be coupled with contacts (e.g., the S/Dcontacts 1624) of the device layer 1604.

A second interconnect layer 1608 may be formed above the firstinterconnect layer 1606. In some embodiments, the second interconnectlayer 1608 may include vias 1628 b to couple the lines 1628 a of thesecond interconnect layer 1608 with the lines 1628 a of the firstinterconnect layer 1606. Although the lines 1628 a and the vias 1628 bare structurally delineated with a line within each interconnect layer(e.g., within the second interconnect layer 1608) for the sake ofclarity, the lines 1628 a and the vias 1628 b may be structurally and/ormaterially contiguous (e.g., simultaneously filled during adual-damascene process) in some embodiments.

A third interconnect layer 1610 (and additional interconnect layers, asdesired) may be formed in succession on the second interconnect layer1608 according to similar techniques and configurations described inconnection with the second interconnect layer 1608 or the firstinterconnect layer 1606. In some embodiments, the interconnect layersthat are “higher up” in the metallization stack 1619 in the IC device1600 (i.e., farther away from the device layer 1604) may be thicker.

The IC device 1600 may include a solder resist material 1634 (e.g.,polyimide or similar material) and one or more conductive contacts 1636formed on the interconnect layers 1606-1610. In FIG. 7, the conductivecontacts 1636 are illustrated as taking the form of bond pads. Theconductive contacts 1636 may be electrically coupled with theinterconnect structures 1628 and configured to route the electricalsignals of the transistor(s) 1640 to other external devices. Forexample, solder bonds may be formed on the one or more conductivecontacts 1636 to mechanically and/or electrically couple a chipincluding the IC device 1600 with another component (e.g., a circuitboard). The IC device 1600 may include additional or alternatestructures to route the electrical signals from the interconnect layers1606-1610; for example, the conductive contacts 1636 may include otheranalogous features (e.g., posts) that route the electrical signals toexternal components.

FIG. 8 is a side, cross-sectional view of an example IC package 1650that may include one or more electronic components probed in accordancewith the apparatuses and methods disclosed herein. For example, the ICpackage 1650 may include some or all of an electronic component probedas the UUT 106. In some embodiments, the IC package 1650 may be asystem-in-package (SiP).

The package substrate 1652 may be formed of a dielectric material (e.g.,a ceramic, a buildup film, an epoxy film having filler particlestherein, etc.), and may have conductive pathways extending through thedielectric material between the face 1672 and the face 1674, or betweendifferent locations on the face 1672, and/or between different locationson the face 1674. These conductive pathways may take the form of any ofthe interconnects 1628 discussed above with reference to FIG. 7.

The package substrate 1652 may include conductive contacts 1663 that arecoupled to conductive pathways (not shown) through the package substrate1652, allowing circuitry within the dies 1656 and/or the interposer 1657to electrically couple to various ones of the conductive contacts 1664(or to other devices included in the package substrate 1652, not shown).

The IC package 1650 may include an interposer 1657 coupled to thepackage substrate 1652 via conductive contacts 1661 of the interposer1657, first-level interconnects 1665, and the conductive contacts 1663of the package substrate 1652. The first-level interconnects 1665illustrated in FIG. 8 are solder bumps, but any suitable first-levelinterconnects 1665 may be used. In some embodiments, no interposer 1657may be included in the IC package 1650; instead, the dies 1656 may becoupled directly to the conductive contacts 1663 at the face 1672 byfirst-level interconnects 1665.

The IC package 1650 may include one or more dies 1656 coupled to theinterposer 1657 via conductive contacts 1654 of the dies 1656,first-level interconnects 1658, and conductive contacts 1660 of theinterposer 1657. The conductive contacts 1660 may be coupled toconductive pathways (not shown) through the interposer 1657, allowingcircuitry within the dies 1656 to electrically couple to various ones ofthe conductive contacts 1661 (or to other devices included in theinterposer 1657, not shown). The first-level interconnects 1658illustrated in FIG. 8 are solder bumps, but any suitable first-levelinterconnects 1658 may be used. As used herein, a “conductive contact”may refer to a portion of conductive material (e.g., metal) serving asan interface between different components; conductive contacts may berecessed in, flush with, or extending away from a surface of acomponent, and may take any suitable form (e.g., a conductive pad orsocket).

In some embodiments, an underfill material 1666 may be disposed betweenthe package substrate 1652 and the interposer 1657 around thefirst-level interconnects 1665, and a mold compound 1668 may be disposedaround the dies 1656 and the interposer 1657 and in contact with thepackage substrate 1652. In some embodiments, the underfill material 1666may be the same as the mold compound 1668. Example materials that may beused for the underfill material 1666 and the mold compound 1668 areepoxy mold materials, as suitable. Second-level interconnects 1670 maybe coupled to the conductive contacts 1664. The second-levelinterconnects 1670 illustrated in FIG. 8 are solder balls (e.g., for aball grid array arrangement), but any suitable second-levelinterconnects 16770 may be used (e.g., pins in a pin grid arrayarrangement or lands in a land grid array arrangement). The second-levelinterconnects 1670 may be used to couple the IC package 1650 to anothercomponent, such as a circuit board (e.g., a motherboard), an interposer,or another IC package, as known in the art and as discussed below withreference to FIG. 9.

The dies 1656 may take the form of any of the embodiments of the die1502 discussed herein (e.g., may include any of the embodiments of theIC device 1600). For example, any of the dies 1656 may serve as the UUT106 and may be probed in accordance with any of the embodimentsdisclosed herein. In embodiments in which the IC package 1650 includesmultiple dies 1656, the IC package 1650 may be referred to as amulti-chip package (MCP). The dies 1656 may include circuitry to performany desired functionality. For example, or more of the dies 1656 may belogic dies (e.g., silicon-based dies), and one or more of the dies 1656may be memory dies (e.g., high bandwidth memory).

Although the IC package 1650 illustrated in FIG. 8 is a flip chippackage, other package architectures may be used. For example, the ICpackage 1650 may be a ball grid array (BGA) package, such as an embeddedwafer-level ball grid array (eWLB) package. In another example, the ICpackage 1650 may be a wafer-level chip scale package (WLCSP) or a panelfanout (FO) package. Although two dies 1656 are illustrated in the ICpackage 1650 of FIG. 8, an IC package 1650 may include any desirednumber of dies 1656. An IC package 1650 may include additional passivecomponents, such as surface-mount resistors, capacitors, and inductorsdisposed on the first face 1672 or the second face 1674 of the packagesubstrate 1652, or on either face of the interposer 1657. Moregenerally, an IC package 1650 may include any other active or passivecomponents known in the art.

FIG. 9 is a side, cross-sectional view of an IC device assembly 1700that may include one or more IC packages or other electronic components(e.g., a die) probed in accordance with any of the apparatuses ormethods disclosed herein. The IC device assembly 1700 includes a numberof components disposed on a circuit board 1702 (which may be, e.g., amotherboard). The IC device assembly 1700 includes components disposedon a first face 1740 of the circuit board 1702 and an opposing secondface 1742 of the circuit board 1702; generally, components may bedisposed on one or both faces 1740 and 1742. Any of the IC packagesdiscussed below with reference to the IC device assembly 1700 may takethe form of any of the embodiments of the IC package 1650 discussedabove with reference to FIG. 8.

In some embodiments, the circuit board 1702 may be a printed circuitboard (PCB) including multiple metal layers separated from one anotherby layers of dielectric material and interconnected by electricallyconductive vias. Any one or more of the metal layers may be formed in adesired circuit pattern to route electrical signals (optionally inconjunction with other metal layers) between the components coupled tothe circuit board 1702. In other embodiments, the circuit board 1702 maybe a non-PCB substrate.

The IC device assembly 1700 illustrated in FIG. 9 includes apackage-on-interposer structure 1736 coupled to the first face 1740 ofthe circuit board 1702 by coupling components 1716. The couplingcomponents 1716 may electrically and mechanically couple thepackage-on-interposer structure 1736 to the circuit board 1702, and mayinclude solder balls (as shown in FIG. 9), male and female portions of asocket, an adhesive, an underfill material, and/or any other suitableelectrical and/or mechanical coupling structure.

The package-on-interposer structure 1736 may include an IC package 1720coupled to an package interposer 1704 by coupling components 1718. Thecoupling components 1718 may take any suitable form for the application,such as the forms discussed above with reference to the couplingcomponents 1716. Although a single IC package 1720 is shown in FIG. 9,multiple IC packages may be coupled to the package interposer 1704;indeed, additional interposers may be coupled to the package interposer1704. The package interposer 1704 may provide an intervening substrateused to bridge the circuit board 1702 and the IC package 1720. The ICpackage 1720 may be or include, for example, a die (the die 1502 of FIG.6), an IC device (e.g., the IC device 1600 of FIG. 7), or any othersuitable component. Generally, the package interposer 1704 may spread aconnection to a wider pitch or reroute a connection to a differentconnection. For example, the package interposer 1704 may couple the ICpackage 1720 (e.g., a die) to a set of BGA conductive contacts of thecoupling components 1716 for coupling to the circuit board 1702. In theembodiment illustrated in FIG. 9, the IC package 1720 and the circuitboard 1702 are attached to opposing sides of the package interposer1704; in other embodiments, the IC package 1720 and the circuit board1702 may be attached to a same side of the package interposer 1704. Insome embodiments, three or more components may be interconnected by wayof the package interposer 1704.

In some embodiments, the package interposer 1704 may be formed as a PCB,including multiple metal layers separated from one another by layers ofdielectric material and interconnected by electrically conductive vias.In some embodiments, the package interposer 1704 may be formed of anepoxy resin, a fiberglass-reinforced epoxy resin, an epoxy resin withinorganic fillers, a ceramic material, or a polymer material such aspolyimide. In some embodiments, the package interposer 1704 may beformed of alternate rigid or flexible materials that may include thesame materials described above for use in a semiconductor substrate,such as silicon, germanium, and other group III-V and group IVmaterials. The package interposer 1704 may include metal lines 1710 andvias 1708, including but not limited to through-silicon vias (TSVs)1706. The package interposer 1704 may further include embedded devices1714, including both passive and active devices. Such devices mayinclude, but are not limited to, capacitors, decoupling capacitors,resistors, inductors, fuses, diodes, transformers, sensors,electrostatic discharge (ESD) devices, and memory devices. More complexdevices such as radio frequency devices, power amplifiers, powermanagement devices, antennas, arrays, sensors, andmicroelectromechanical systems (MEMS) devices may also be formed on thepackage interposer 1704. The package-on-interposer structure 1736 maytake the form of any of the package-on-interposer structures known inthe art.

The IC device assembly 1700 may include an IC package 1724 coupled tothe first face 1740 of the circuit board 1702 by coupling components1722. The coupling components 1722 may take the form of any of theembodiments discussed above with reference to the coupling components1716, and the IC package 1724 may take the form of any of theembodiments discussed above with reference to the IC package 1720.

The IC device assembly 1700 illustrated in FIG. 9 includes apackage-on-package structure 1734 coupled to the second face 1742 of thecircuit board 1702 by coupling components 1728. The package-on-packagestructure 1734 may include an IC package 1726 and an IC package 1732coupled together by coupling components 1730 such that the IC package1726 is disposed between the circuit board 1702 and the IC package 1732.The coupling components 1728 and 1730 may take the form of any of theembodiments of the coupling components 1716 discussed above, and the ICpackages 1726 and 1732 may take the form of any of the embodiments ofthe IC package 1720 discussed above. The package-on-package structure1734 may be configured in accordance with any of the package-on-packagestructures known in the art.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram of an example electrical device 1800 that mayinclude one or more electronic components probed in accordance with anyof the apparatuses or methods disclosed herein. For example, anysuitable ones of the components of the electrical device 1800 mayinclude one or more of the IC device assemblies 1700, IC packages 1650,IC devices 1600, or dies 1502 disclosed herein. A number of componentsare illustrated in FIG. 10 as included in the electrical device 1800,but any one or more of these components may be omitted or duplicated, assuitable for the application. In some embodiments, some or all of thecomponents included in the electrical device 1800 may be attached to oneor more motherboards. In some embodiments, some or all of thesecomponents are fabricated onto a single system-on-a-chip (SoC) die.

Additionally, in various embodiments, the electrical device 1800 may notinclude one or more of the components illustrated in FIG. 10, but theelectrical device 1800 may include interface circuitry for coupling tothe one or more components. For example, the electrical device 1800 maynot include a display device 1806, but may include display deviceinterface circuitry (e.g., a connector and driver circuitry) to which adisplay device 1806 may be coupled. In another set of examples, theelectrical device 1800 may not include an audio input device 1824 or anaudio output device 1808, but may include audio input or output deviceinterface circuitry (e.g., connectors and supporting circuitry) to whichan audio input device 1824 or audio output device 1808 may be coupled.

The electrical device 1800 may include a processing device 1802 (e.g.,one or more processing devices). As used herein, the term “processingdevice” or “processor” may refer to any device or portion of a devicethat processes electronic data from registers and/or memory to transformthat electronic data into other electronic data that may be stored inregisters and/or memory. The processing device 1802 may include one ormore digital signal processors (DSPs), application-specific integratedcircuits (ASICs), central processing units (CPUs), graphics processingunits (GPUs), cryptoprocessors (specialized processors that executecryptographic algorithms within hardware), server processors, or anyother suitable processing devices. The electrical device 1800 mayinclude a memory 1804, which may itself include one or more memorydevices such as volatile memory (e.g., dynamic random access memory(DRAM)), nonvolatile memory (e.g., read-only memory (ROM)), flashmemory, solid state memory, and/or a hard drive. In some embodiments,the memory 1804 may include memory that shares a die with the processingdevice 1802. This memory may be used as cache memory and may includeembedded dynamic random access memory (eDRAM) or spin transfer torquemagnetic random access memory (STT-MRAM).

In some embodiments, the electrical device 1800 may include acommunication chip 1812 (e.g., one or more communication chips). Forexample, the communication chip 1812 may be configured for managingwireless communications for the transfer of data to and from theelectrical device 1800. The term “wireless” and its derivatives may beused to describe circuits, devices, systems, methods, techniques,communications channels, etc., that may communicate data through the useof modulated electromagnetic radiation through a nonsolid medium. Theterm does not imply that the associated devices do not contain anywires, although in some embodiments they might not.

The communication chip 1812 may implement any of a number of wirelessstandards or protocols, including but not limited to Institute forElectrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) standards including Wi-Fi(IEEE 802.11 family), IEEE 802.16 standards (e.g., IEEE 802.16-2005Amendment), Long-Term Evolution (LTE) project along with any amendments,updates, and/or revisions (e.g., advanced LTE project, ultra mobilebroadband (UMB) project (also referred to as “3GPP2”), etc.). IEEE802.16 compatible Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) networks are generallyreferred to as WiMAX networks, an acronym that stands for WorldwideInteroperability for Microwave Access, which is a certification mark forproducts that pass conformity and interoperability tests for the IEEE802.16 standards. The communication chip 1812 may operate in accordancewith a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM), General PacketRadio Service (GPRS), Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS),High Speed Packet Access (HSPA), Evolved HSPA (E-HSPA), or LTE network.The communication chip 1812 may operate in accordance with Enhanced Datafor GSM Evolution (EDGE), GSM EDGE Radio Access Network (GERAN),Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (UTRAN), or Evolved UTRAN(E-UTRAN). The communication chip 1812 may operate in accordance withCode Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Time Division Multiple Access(TDMA), Digital Enhanced Cordless Telecommunications (DECT),Evolution-Data Optimized (EV-DO), and derivatives thereof, as well asany other wireless protocols that are designated as 3G, 4G, 5G, andbeyond. The communication chip 1812 may operate in accordance with otherwireless protocols in other embodiments. The electrical device 1800 mayinclude an antenna 1822 to facilitate wireless communications and/or toreceive other wireless communications (such as AM or FM radiotransmissions).

In some embodiments, the communication chip 1812 may manage wiredcommunications, such as electrical, optical, or any other suitablecommunication protocols (e.g., the Ethernet). As noted above, thecommunication chip 1812 may include multiple communication chips. Forinstance, a first communication chip 1812 may be dedicated toshorter-range wireless communications such as Wi-Fi or Bluetooth, and asecond communication chip 1812 may be dedicated to longer-range wirelesscommunications such as global positioning system (GPS), EDGE, GPRS,CDMA, WiMAX, LTE, EV-DO, or others. In some embodiments, a firstcommunication chip 1812 may be dedicated to wireless communications, anda second communication chip 1812 may be dedicated to wiredcommunications.

The electrical device 1800 may include battery/power circuitry 1814. Thebattery/power circuitry 1814 may include one or more energy storagedevices (e.g., batteries or capacitors) and/or circuitry for couplingcomponents of the electrical device 1800 to an energy source separatefrom the electrical device 1800 (e.g., AC line power).

The electrical device 1800 may include a display device 1806 (orcorresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The displaydevice 1806 may include any visual indicators, such as a heads-updisplay, a computer monitor, a projector, a touchscreen display, aliquid crystal display (LCD), a light-emitting diode display, or a flatpanel display.

The electrical device 1800 may include an audio output device 1808 (orcorresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The audio outputdevice 1808 may include any device that generates an audible indicator,such as speakers, headsets, or earbuds.

The electrical device 1800 may include an audio input device 1824 (orcorresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The audio inputdevice 1824 may include any device that generates a signalrepresentative of a sound, such as microphones, microphone arrays, ordigital instruments (e.g., instruments having a musical instrumentdigital interface (MIDI) output).

The electrical device 1800 may include a GPS device 1818 (orcorresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). The GPS device1818 may be in communication with a satellite-based system and mayreceive a location of the electrical device 1800, as known in the art.

The electrical device 1800 may include an other output device 1810 (orcorresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). Examples of theother output device 1810 may include an audio codec, a video codec, aprinter, a wired or wireless transmitter for providing information toother devices, or an additional storage device.

The electrical device 1800 may include an other input device 1820 (orcorresponding interface circuitry, as discussed above). Examples of theother input device 1820 may include an accelerometer, a gyroscope, acompass, an image capture device, a keyboard, a cursor control devicesuch as a mouse, a stylus, a touchpad, a bar code reader, a QuickResponse (QR) code reader, any sensor, or a radio frequencyidentification (RFID) reader.

The electrical device 1800 may have any desired form factor, such as ahandheld or mobile electrical device (e.g., a cell phone, a smart phone,a mobile internet device, a music player, a tablet computer, a laptopcomputer, a netbook computer, an ultrabook computer, a personal digitalassistant (PDA), an ultra mobile personal computer, etc.), a desktopelectrical device, a server device or other networked computingcomponent, a printer, a scanner, a monitor, a set-top box, anentertainment control unit, a vehicle control unit, a digital camera, adigital video recorder, or a wearable electrical device. In someembodiments, the electrical device 1800 may be any other electronicdevice that processes data.

The following paragraphs provide various examples of the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

Example 1 is a probe card, including: a probe landing pad; a guide platehaving a hole therein; and a pushing mechanism, wherein the pushingmechanism includes a pusher needle and a pusher needle support, thepusher needle support is between the probe landing pad and the guideplate, and the pusher needle support is controllable to cause the pusherneedle to extend and retract through the hole in the guide plate.

Example 2 includes the subject matter of Example 1, and furtherspecifies that the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe cardfurther includes a second guide plate, and the pusher needle support isbetween the first guide plate and the second guide plate.

Example 3 includes the subject matter of Example 2, and furtherspecifies that a distance between the first guide plate and the secondguide plate is between 3 millimeters and 4 millimeters.

Example 4 includes the subject matter of Example 3, and furtherspecifies that the probe card further includes a third guide platebetween the second guide plate and the probe landing pad.

Example 5 includes the subject matter of Example 4, and furtherspecifies that the probe card further includes a fourth guide plate, thefirst guide plate is between the fourth guide plate and the pusherneedle support, and the pusher needle support is controllable to causethe pusher needle to extend and retract through a hole in the firstguide plate and a hole in the fourth guide plate.

Example 6 includes the subject matter of Example 2, and furtherspecifies that the probe card further includes a second guide plate, thefirst guide plate is between the second guide plate and the pusherneedle support, and the pusher needle support is controllable to causethe pusher needle to extend and retract through a hole in the firstguide plate and a hole in the second guide plate.

Example 7 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-6, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a motor thatcontrollably extends and retracts an arm in a plane parallel to a planeof the guide plate.

Example 8 includes the subject matter of Example 7, and furtherspecifies that the motor is a piezoelectric motor.

Example 9 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 7-8, andfurther specifies that the motor is a linear motor.

Example 10 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 7-9, andfurther specifies that the motor has a height that is less than 3millimeters.

Example 11 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 7-10, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a double wedgestructure such that pushing a first wedge of the double wedge structurewith the arm in a direction parallel to the plane of the guide platecauses a second wedge of the double wedge structure to move in adirection perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate.

Example 12 includes the subject matter of Example 11, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle support includes a cantilever incontact with the double wedge structure such that the cantilever resistsmovement of the second wedge of the double wedge structure in thedirection perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate.

Example 13 includes the subject matter of Example 12, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle is mounted on the cantilever.

Example 14 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-11, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a cantilever,and the pusher needle is mounted on the cantilever.

Example 15 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-10, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a double wedgestructure.

Example 16 includes the subject matter of Example 15, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle support includes a wedge frame, a firstwedge of the double wedge structure is constrained by the wedge frame tomove in a direction parallel to the guide plate, and a second wedge ofthe double wedge structure is constrained by the wedge frame to move ina direction perpendicular to the guide plate.

Example 17 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-16, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a base plate,and the base plate is on the guide plate.

Example 18 includes the subject matter of Example 17, and furtherspecifies that the base plate has a same material composition as theguide plate.

Example 19 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-18, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle has a cross-sectional area thatis less than 2500 square microns.

Example 20 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-19, andfurther includes: one or more probe bodies to contact the probe landingpad and extend through corresponding holes in the guide plate.

Example 21 includes the subject matter of Example 20, and furtherspecifies that the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe cardfurther includes a second guide plate, the pusher needle support isbetween the first guide plate and the second guide plate, and the one ormore probe bodies extend through corresponding holes in the second guideplate.

Example 22 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 20-21, andfurther specifies that individual ones of the probe bodies have across-sectional area that is less than 2500 square microns.

Example 23 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 20-22, andfurther specifies that a spacing between an individual probe body andthe pusher needle is less than 100 microns.

Example 24 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 20-23, andfurther specifies that individual ones of the probe bodies have a lengthbetween 4 millimeters and 7 millimeters.

Example 25 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-24, andfurther specifies that the probe landing pad includes a spacetransformer.

Example 26 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-25, andfurther includes: a circuit board electrically coupled to the probelanding pad.

Example 27 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 1-26, andfurther specifies that the guide plate includes a plurality of holes,the pushing mechanism is one of a plurality of pushing mechanisms,individual ones of the pushing mechanisms include a pusher needle and apusher needle support, the pusher needle support of an individualpushing mechanism is between the probe landing pad and the guide plate,and the pusher needle support of an individual pushing mechanism iscontrollable to cause the pusher needle of that individual pushingmechanism to extend and retract through a hole in the guide plate.

Example 28 includes the subject matter of Example 27, and furtherspecifies that the probe card includes four pushing mechanisms.

Example 29 is a method of manufacturing a probe card, including:providing a probe landing pad and a guide plate, wherein the guide platehas a hole therein; and providing a pushing mechanism between the probelanding pad and the guide plate, wherein the pushing mechanism includesa pusher needle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle supportis between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusherneedle support is controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend andretract through the hole in the guide plate.

Example 30 includes the subject matter of Example 29, and furtherspecifies that providing the pushing mechanism between the probe landingpad and the guide plate includes: fabricating the pushing mechanism; andafter fabricating the pushing mechanism, attaching the pushing mechanismto the guide plate.

Example 31 includes the subject matter of Example 30, and furtherspecifies that the pushing mechanism includes a motor coupled to a baseplate, and attaching the pushing mechanism to the guide plate includesattaching the base plate to the guide plate.

Example 32 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 29-31, andfurther includes: electrically coupling the pushing mechanism to theprobe landing pad.

Example 33 is a method of using a probe card during testing of aunit-under-test (UUT), including: bringing probe bodies of the probecard into electrical contact with conductive contacts of the UUT,wherein the probe bodies extend through holes in a guide plate; andafter completion of a test sequence, causing a pusher needle to extendthrough a hole in the guide plate to contact the UUT as the probe cardis moved away from the UUT.

Example 34 includes the subject matter of Example 33, and furtherincludes: causing the pusher needle to retract through the hole in theguide plate to not contact the UUT while the probe bodies are inelectrical contact with conductive contacts of the UUT.

Example 35 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 33-34, andfurther specifies that the UUT includes a die or a wafer.

Example 36 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 33-35, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle is one of a plurality of pusherneedles caused to extend through a corresponding hole in the guide plateto contact the UUT as the probe card is moved away from the UUT.

Example 37 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 33-36, andfurther specifies that causing the pusher needle to extend through ahole includes causing a linear motor to move in a plane perpendicular tomotion of the pusher needle.

Example 38 is a probe card, including: a probe landing pad; a guideplate having a hole therein; and a pusher needle that extends throughthe hole, wherein the pusher needle is not electrically coupled to theprobe landing pad.

Example 39 includes the subject matter of Example 38, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle is part of a pushing mechanism, thepushing mechanism includes the pusher needle and a pusher needlesupport, the pusher needle support is between the probe landing pad andthe guide plate, and the pusher needle support is controllable to causethe pusher needle to extend and retract through the hole in the guideplate.

Example 40 includes the subject matter of Example 39, and furtherspecifies that the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe cardfurther includes a second guide plate, and the pusher needle support isbetween the first guide plate and the second guide plate.

Example 41 includes the subject matter of Example 40, and furtherspecifies that a distance between the first guide plate and the secondguide plate is between 3 millimeters and 4 millimeters.

Example 42 includes the subject matter of Example 41, and furtherspecifies that the probe card further includes a third guide platebetween the second guide plate and the probe landing pad.

Example 43 includes the subject matter of Example 42, and furtherspecifies that the probe card further includes a fourth guide plate, thefirst guide plate is between the fourth guide plate and the pusherneedle support, and the pusher needle support is controllable to causethe pusher needle to extend and retract through a hole in the firstguide plate and a hole in the fourth guide plate.

Example 44 includes the subject matter of Example 40, and furtherspecifies that the probe card further includes a second guide plate, thefirst guide plate is between the second guide plate and the pusherneedle support, and the pusher needle support is controllable to causethe pusher needle to extend and retract through a hole in the firstguide plate and a hole in the second guide plate.

Example 45 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-44, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a motor thatcontrollably extends and retracts an arm in a plane parallel to a planeof the guide plate.

Example 46 includes the subject matter of Example 45, and furtherspecifies that the motor is a piezoelectric motor.

Example 47 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 45-46, andfurther specifies that the motor is a linear motor.

Example 48 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 45-47, andfurther specifies that the motor has a height that is less than 3millimeters.

Example 49 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 45-48, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a double wedgestructure such that pushing a first wedge of the double wedge structurewith the arm in a direction parallel to the plane of the guide platecauses a second wedge of the double wedge structure to move in adirection perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate.

Example 50 includes the subject matter of Example 49, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle support includes a cantilever incontact with the double wedge structure such that the cantilever resistsmovement of the second wedge of the double wedge structure in thedirection perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate.

Example 51 includes the subject matter of Example 50, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle is mounted on the cantilever.

Example 52 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-51, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a cantilever,and the pusher needle is mounted on the cantilever.

Example 53 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-50, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a double wedgestructure.

Example 54 includes the subject matter of Example 53, and furtherspecifies that the pusher needle support includes a wedge frame, a firstwedge of the double wedge structure is constrained by the wedge frame tomove in a direction parallel to the guide plate, and a second wedge ofthe double wedge structure is constrained by the wedge frame to move ina direction perpendicular to the guide plate.

Example 55 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 39-54, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle support includes a base plate,and the base plate is on the guide plate.

Example 56 includes the subject matter of Example 55, and furtherspecifies that the base plate has a same material composition as theguide plate.

Example 57 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 38-56, andfurther specifies that the pusher needle has a cross-sectional area thatis less than 2500 square microns.

Example 58 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 38-57, andfurther includes: one or more probe bodies to contact the probe landingpad and extend through corresponding holes in the guide plate.

Example 59 includes the subject matter of Example 58, and furtherspecifies that the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe cardfurther includes a second guide plate, and the one or more probe bodiesextend through corresponding holes in the second guide plate.

Example 60 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 58-59, andfurther specifies that individual ones of the probe bodies have across-sectional area that is less than 2500 square microns.

Example 61 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 58-60, andfurther specifies that a spacing between an individual probe body andthe pusher needle is less than 100 microns.

Example 62 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 58-61, andfurther specifies that individual ones of the probe bodies have a lengthbetween 4 millimeters and 7 millimeters.

Example 63 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 38-62, andfurther specifies that the probe landing pad includes a spacetransformer.

Example 64 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 38-63, andfurther includes: a circuit board electrically coupled to the probelanding pad.

Example 65 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 38-64, andfurther specifies that the guide plate includes a plurality of holes,the pusher needle is one of a plurality of pusher needles, individualones of the pusher needles extend through corresponding holes in theguide plate, and individual ones of the pusher needles are notelectrically coupled to the probe landing pad.

Example 66 includes the subject matter of Example 65, and furtherspecifies that the probe card includes four pusher needles.

Example 67 includes the subject matter of any of Examples 38-66, andfurther specifies that the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probecard further includes a second guide plate, and the pusher needle doesnot extend through the second guide plate.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A probe card, comprising: a probe landing pad; a guide plate having a hole therein; and a pushing mechanism, wherein the pushing mechanism includes a pusher needle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle support is between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusher needle support is controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend and retract through the hole in the guide plate.
 2. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe card further includes a second guide plate, and the pusher needle support is between the first guide plate and the second guide plate.
 3. The probe card of claim 2, wherein a distance between the first guide plate and the second guide plate is between 3 millimeters and 4 millimeters.
 4. The probe card of claim 2, wherein the probe card further includes a second guide plate, the first guide plate is between the second guide plate and the pusher needle support, and the pusher needle support is controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend and retract through a hole in the first guide plate and a hole in the second guide plate.
 5. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the pusher needle support includes a motor that controllably extends and retracts an arm in a plane parallel to a plane of the guide plate.
 6. The probe card of claim 5, wherein the pusher needle support includes a double wedge structure such that pushing a first wedge of the double wedge structure with the arm in a direction parallel to the plane of the guide plate causes a second wedge of the double wedge structure to move in a direction perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate.
 7. The probe card of claim 6, wherein the pusher needle support includes a cantilever in contact with the double wedge structure such that the cantilever resists movement of the second wedge of the double wedge structure in the direction perpendicular to the plane of the guide plate.
 8. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the pusher needle support includes a cantilever, and the pusher needle is mounted on the cantilever.
 9. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the pusher needle support includes a double wedge structure.
 10. The probe card of claim 9, wherein the pusher needle support includes a wedge frame, a first wedge of the double wedge structure is constrained by the wedge frame to move in a direction parallel to the guide plate, and a second wedge of the double wedge structure is constrained by the wedge frame to move in a direction perpendicular to the guide plate.
 11. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the pusher needle support includes a base plate, the base plate is on the guide plate, and the base plate has a same material composition as the guide plate.
 12. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the pusher needle has a cross-sectional area that is less than 2500 square microns.
 13. The probe card of claim 1, further comprising: one or more probe bodies to contact the probe landing pad and extend through corresponding holes in the guide plate.
 14. The probe card of claim 1, wherein the guide plate includes a plurality of holes, the pushing mechanism is one of a plurality of pushing mechanisms, individual ones of the pushing mechanisms include a pusher needle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle support of an individual pushing mechanism is between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusher needle support of an individual pushing mechanism is controllable to cause the pusher needle of that individual pushing mechanism to extend and retract through a hole in the guide plate.
 15. A method of manufacturing a probe card, comprising: providing a probe landing pad and a guide plate, wherein the guide plate has a hole therein; and providing a pushing mechanism between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, wherein the pushing mechanism includes a pusher needle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle support is between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusher needle support is controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend and retract through the hole in the guide plate.
 16. The method of claim 15, wherein providing the pushing mechanism between the probe landing pad and the guide plate includes: fabricating the pushing mechanism; and after fabricating the pushing mechanism, attaching the pushing mechanism to the guide plate.
 17. The method of claim 16, wherein the pushing mechanism includes a motor coupled to a base plate, and attaching the pushing mechanism to the guide plate includes attaching the base plate to the guide plate.
 18. A method of using a probe card during testing of a unit-under-test (UUT), comprising: bringing probe bodies of the probe card into electrical contact with conductive contacts of the UUT, wherein the probe bodies extend through holes in a guide plate; after completion of a test sequence, causing a pusher needle to extend through a hole in the guide plate to contact the UUT as the probe card is moved away from the UUT; and causing the pusher needle to retract through the hole in the guide plate to not contact the UUT while the probe bodies are in electrical contact with conductive contacts of the UUT.
 19. The method of claim 18, wherein the UUT includes a die or a wafer.
 20. A probe card, comprising: a probe landing pad; a guide plate having a hole therein; and a pusher needle that extends through the hole, wherein the pusher needle is not electrically coupled to the probe landing pad, wherein: the pusher needle is part of a pushing mechanism, the pushing mechanism includes the pusher needle and a pusher needle support, the pusher needle support is between the probe landing pad and the guide plate, and the pusher needle support is controllable to cause the pusher needle to extend and retract through the hole in the guide plate.
 21. The probe card of claim 20, wherein the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe card further includes a second guide plate, and the pusher needle support is between the first guide plate and the second guide plate.
 22. The probe card of claim 20, further comprising: one or more probe bodies to contact the probe landing pad and extend through corresponding holes in the guide plate.
 23. The probe card of claim 20, wherein the guide plate is a first guide plate, the probe card further includes a second guide plate, and the pusher needle does not extend through the second guide plate. 